Awaiting His Destiny
by iheartss
Summary: We saw a flashforward to about six years after Seth went to Rhode Island, Summer went gallivanting cross country with GEORGE and Ryan went to Berkeley, but what happened in between? SethPOV with lots of SS and a little bit of Ryan and maybe Taylor.
1. Chapter 1

"**Awaiting His Destiny"**

**Summary: We saw a flash-forward to about six years after Seth went to Rhode Island, Summer went gallivanting cross country with GEORGE and Ryan went to Berkeley, but what happened in between? This is mainly Seth-centric with lots of SS and a little bit of Ryan and maybe Taylor.**

**A/N: I was surprised that I hadn't yet seen one of these up, so I decided to take matters into my own hands. Just wanted to give the fans an interpretation of what things were like in the SS relationship in particular during the "gap years".**

**Disclaimer: I definitely do not own any of the O.C. characters or past story lines, etc. That would be Mr. Josh Schwartz and Fox…or actually, who owns it now?! Anyway…not me.**

**Chapter 1: Starting Anew**

Seth Cohen took a final look around the dorm room that he had just set up to the best of his ability before crashing down onto his bed and grabbing Captain Oats from his conveniently placed nightstand. Though he knew that his decision to let Summer go and do her thing while he would study at RISD was the right one, he couldn't help but feel a sadness creeping through his body and mind.

He thought briefly about what life would have been like if they had come to Providence together as planned. Right now, they would probably be checking over Summer's floor plan and making sure everything was set up just as she had designed it. He let a small smile grace his features at this.

He couldn't help but think that even though they had been in a self-prescribed rut following the earthquake, he got to be in Summer's presence more than ever before, and there was something very good to be said for that. Everyday when he woke up, he would have a warm body cuddled up next to him. He had found a guilty pleasure in waking up a little before her each day, and just watching her as the sun peaked through the blinds and illuminated her shining almost black hair that was sprawled across the pillow and his chest. He knew then that he had meant what he said when he so spontaneously "proposed" on New Year's Eve. He could never imagine himself spending life with anyone else but the small, sassy brunette that he had come to love over the better part of his life.

He sighed, looking up at the newspaper clippings that hung on his bulletin board. He couldn't believe how far she had come from the snobby, arrogant Newpsie-in-training that most of Newport knew her as. She now remained beautiful and ever-fashionable, but she had grown or simply began to show this deep compassion for others and the world around her. She had become in the almost four years that Seth had known her the most intelligent, caring, and driven person that he knew. And he had her.

Well, to be technical about it, GEORGE had her now, but he knew he had her. Because she reassured him several times before getting on the bus that would take her across America.

"_Just remember, this isn't goodbye. You're my destiny, Cohen."_

Her words played on a repeat loop in his head. As he had stood there and listened to her, he tried to remember everything about her. Not that he didn't have permanent etchings of Summer in his head in a deep and very extensive catalog format, but he wanted to remember her right then. The way that her long, straight hair hung around her shoulders. How she tucked a piece behind her ear, and cocked her head slightly to the side, offering him the sweetest smile that he ever remembered seeing. He thought about their parting kiss. Sure, he hadn't thrown her up against the side of the bus and jammed his tongue down her throat, but it was the most meaningful kiss he had ever shared. It was soft, sweet, and full of promise.

Seth was abruptly shaken from his reverie at the sound of keys in the door. He quickly slid Captain Oats under his pillow, not wanting to completely scare his roommate away upon their first meeting. He sat up on his bed and watched as a shorter, stockier blonde made his way in the room. Seth let a half smile form on his face, as he noticed a slight resemblance between his new roommate and his brother.

"Hi you doing? I'm John McCloskey," the newcomer informed him with a thick Brooklyn accent.

"Seth Cohen," he responded, crossing the room to shake his roommate's hand.

"So, where you from, Seth?" John asked, taking a seat in his desk chair and waiting for Seth to do the same.

"Well, I've spent most of my life in Newport Beach, California, but my family recently made a move back to Berkeley, where I was born," he said, realizing he wasn't so sure how to answer that question anymore. "How about you?"

"Well, if my voice didn't give it away, I'm from Brooklyn." Both boys smiled at this.

"That's cool, man. My nana actually lives in the Bronx, so I guess you guys are kind of neighbors."

"Yeah, kind of. Only they've got the Yankees, and we've got the Mets, so it's a pretty hardcore rivalry."

"Ah, I see. Well, I'm pretty sure the Nana doesn't follow hockey, so…" Seth trailed off as his roommate's eyes bulged out of his head, and he looked at him expectantly.

"That was a joke, right?" John said, chuckling a bit.

"I'm sorry, what?" Seth said, obviously confused.

"You know the Yankees and the Mets play baseball, right?"

"Oh, uh, right! Yeah, totally, are you kidding?" he replied, looking to the side and shaking his head at his own lack of sports' knowledge, while pretending to shake it off as if he knew the whole time to his roommate.

"Anyway, man, what do you think about hitting up a party tonight? I mean, I don't know about you, but I could use a little kick back before the school work starts," he said, before standing to hand Seth a flyer he had obviously picked up on campus.

Seth looked it over, and then looked back up to his roommate, unsure. "I don't know, man."

"Oh, come on, it's better than hanging out here with a toy horse, right?" Seth instantly reddened at the fact that his roommate had already inadvertently met the Captain. Seeing his look, John crossed to his own bed and picked up a really old looking teddy bear. "I'm only messing, man. This is Mr. Binky."

Seth just smiled, but as his roommate continued to look at him expectantly, he slid over on his desk chair to the bed, and pulled the plastic horse out from under the pillow. "Captain Oats," he explained, holding him up for John to get a better look.

"Alright, now as long as neither of us outs the other's secret to any hot girls or anything, we should be good," John replied, placing his bear back on his bed. "Though it looks like you won't really be worried about any hot girls. At least any new, hot girls," he said, pointing up to the collage of Summer pictures on Seth's bulletin board.

"You're not wrong," he said softly, losing himself in the various candids and sketches that adorned his side of the room.

"Is that why you're refusing to go out? Because if it is, I can't argue. Look at her," he exclaimed, moving to get a closer look. "She's hot!"

"Don't I know it," Seth breathed to himself, more than to his roommate. Realizing that John seemed to want more of an explanation, he took a deep breath. "Her name is Summer. I've been in love with her since I was ten years old. She was pretty hot then, too," he started, taking a moment to laugh at that. "Anyway, we've been together off and on, I suppose, since our sophomore year of high school. She was supposed to come with me to Providence actually, she was going to Brown and we were going to share an apartment in the middle, but anyway, she is really into all of this activism and stuff so she decided to take this bus across the country to campaign for the 2008 elections."

"Wow, man. That's deep," John replied, nodding in understanding. "So, are you two off now?"

Seth took a moment to think about this. They weren't off, but they weren't exactly on either. "Ah, well, that's a pretty good question. You see, Summer and I are both under the belief that we're each other's destinies. I mean, as many times as we've tried to fight it, we always end up back at square one, with each other. So while we may not be seeing each other quite as much, considering she's on a bus god knows where right now, I guess we're still together." He laughed after seeing his roommates obvious shock at the speed and intensity of his ramblings. "I do that sometimes, too. Ramble, that is."

John laughed at this. "Alright, man. Well, I guess you could sit here and stare at that beautiful woman while—" He didn't finish as he noticed Seth's look. "Right. Or you could come out to this party and try to have a decent time."

Seth sat for moment before letting out a deep sigh and standing to find his jacket and keys. "Well, you guilted me into it," he said, donning his jacket, "Are you sure you aren't Jewish?" John just laughed as he put his own jacket on and moved to the door. "But I must tell you, you might have to babysit me. Last time I was really wasted, I ended up in Mexico with a bunch of Marines, which resulted in me downing an insane amount of Tequila which was then responsible for some slightly embarrassing ink work on my non-muscular arms."

"Oh, dude. What kind of ink did you get done?"

Seth shook his head and smiled, before continuing to explain the story as they walked out of the dorm room towards the party.

**A/N: That was just meant to be a kind of intro. I don't know what you guys think. If it's worth continuing, review like WHOA to let me know. If not, you can just tell me in a review. Oh, and I'm not abandoning "A New Edition", either. Peace.**


	2. Surprise Visits

"**Awaiting His Destiny"**

**Disclaimer: I definitely do not own any of the O.C. characters or past story lines, etc. That would be Mr. Josh Schwartz and Fox…or actually, who owns it now?! Anyway…not me.**

**Chapter 2: Surprise Visit**

It had been three months since Summer had hit the road with GEORGE, and Seth had really settled into life in Providence. In his first month at RISD, he had been elected as President of his freshman class, and for once in his life, he was kind of popular. Granted, it was probably because he was surrounded by artists and comic book geeks, rather than water polo players, but nevertheless, he was enjoying his time in college.

As promised, his parents and Sophie had come up in the beginning of October for parents' weekend, and Ryan had even made the six hour journey to stay for the weekend.

He had received postcards from all over America from Summer, telling him about all of the protests she had participated in and all of the progress the GEORGE campaign was making. They spoke on the phone occasionally, always glad to here from each other, and both took guilty pleasure in reading the other's myspace blog.

Though Seth missed Summer everyday, he didn't live the life of a recluse. He and John went to RISD and Brown parties almost every weekend, and his participation in student government was something he took great pride in. In Summer's honor, he had even been responsible for implementing recycling in all of the art studios across campus.

It was now Friday, two weeks before Thanksgiving break, and Seth was walking across campus towards his dorm, having a nice chat with Ryan on his way.

"So have you heard for her lately?" Seth asked, referring to Taylor.

"Well, we've used Skype a little bit, and we email occasionally, but we're kind of both living our lives for now, you know?"

Seth nodded though his brother couldn't see him. "I totally know what you mean." He paused. "So, anyway, how's the littlest Cohen doing? Did you read her that comic that I sent over?"

"Not yet. But man, she's three months old. She's more interested in her teething rings. I don't know how much she would appreciate a comic."

"Ryan, Ryan, Ryan. As my greatest student of the art of comics, you of all people should understand that one can never be too young to begin their education, and I wrote AND illustrated that one, just for her. Furthermore—"

"Ok, buddy, I'll read it to her," the blonde said, attempting to cut his surrogate brother off from the ramble that was inevitably approaching.

"I'm glad you see it my way. Anyway, how's Flapjacks? And have mom and dad been taking good care of Pancakes?"

"All of the rabbits are doing pretty well," he answered. "Speaking of the rabbits, how is Summer?"

Seth paused as he reached his door and dug around for his keys. "I think she's doing well. According to her blog at least. We don't really get a chance to talk all that much," he sighed. "It kind of sucks to be honest, man. I can't help but think I made a huge mistake letting her go. I mean, what if after all of this, we don't get together and she finds some idealistic GEORGE guy to take my place." He pushed the door open and almost dropped his phone when he saw a petite brunette seated on his bed.

"Hey, Cohen," Summer said softly.

"Seth, is that—" Ryan began to ask before being cut-off.

"Gotta go," Seth said quickly snapping his phone shut. He stood for a minute, slack-jawed and unsure if he was dreaming or if she was really in his dorm room. "Summer? Wh—Oh my God. You're here," he stuttered out, finally allowing himself to smile and crossing the room to crush her into a hug.

Summer returned the hug, smiling into his chest, and realizing in the moment how much she had actually missed the feeling of his arms around her.

After several moments, the two pulled apart, and Seth took a seat beside her on the bed, maintaining the contact by holding her hands in his. "Not that I'm not floored by your presence right now, but what are you doing here?"

"Well, we had a rally in D.C. this week, and they decided to give us a few days off. A lot of the people went to New York City to hang out, but I thought…" She trailed off, meeting his gaze and shrugging.

Seth brought his hand up to brush the hair away from her face, tucking it behind her ear. "It's so great to see you," he said, planting a firm kiss on her forehead. "You look beautiful."

"Yeah. You know, they say that activism is great for your complexion," she joked, pushing him in the chest. He caught her hand and pulled her small body to his once again, squeezing her as if she would disappear at any given moment.

"How'd you get in anyway?" he mumbled into her hair.

"John," she said simply. "He seems like a pretty interesting guy."

"Yeah, he's a little different, but you know, we actually get along pretty well. When he talks about sports, I have no clue what's going on, but other than that we have a lot of the same interests and friends."

Summer pulled away and looked into his eyes. "I see that you're quite the active student," she said, motioning around the room at all of the flyers from various events he'd taken part in. "And I couldn't help but notice this one." She pulled out a folded piece of paper that advertised the RISD recycling program that Seth had implemented.

He blushed a little, focusing his gaze on the flyer and shrugging. "Well, you know, I kind of figured that I would do my part in carrying on the Summer Roberts' legacy of keeping the planet green."

She smiled at this. "Well, I think it's pretty cool, Cohen." The two sat for a few minutes in silence, a little unsure of what to say to the other or where they stood at that point in time.

Seth finally broke the silence. "So have you eaten anything yet? You are looking a little skinny there. Do they feed you at GEORGE?"

Summer rolled her eyes. "Like your non-ass has room to talk. But I would love to get something to eat." She stood and offered her hand, which Seth quickly accepted.

He went to his desk and retrieved his wallet. Turning to Summer, he asked "Shall we?" and with an affirmative nod, he moved towards the door.

"Oh, Cohen?" Summer said from behind him.

"Yeah?" he asked, turning from where he stood at the door. Before he could register what was happening, Summer's lips were on his, kissing him hungrily, and he was pushed up against the door. Without breaking the contact, he moved his hand to lock the door behind him and moved forward, until she was lying on her back on his bed, and he was hovering over her. "I guess dinner can wait," he mumbled against her lips with a smile.

"Mmmhmm," she agreed, quickly working at the buttons on his shirt and continuing to kiss him passionately.

An hour later, Seth and Summer lay in his bed, entangled in the sheets, in silence. Seth was drawing patterns on the smooth skin of Summer's back, while she lay, snuggling against his chest.

Their afterglow was interrupted by the sound of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" ringing throughout the room.

"I didn't know you were into baseball," Summer teased, raising an eyebrow at Seth.

"I'm not," he replied as he reached down to the floor for his pants, and dug through the pockets attempting to find his cell phone. "It was some exercise in roommate bonding or something," he gave as an explanation before final finding his phone and raising it to his ear. "Hey John."

"Yo, man. How's it going?" the boy on the other side answered.

"Uh, actually, better than it has been in a while," he replied, glancing down at Summer and dropping a quick kiss in her hair.

"Oh, shit! Cali, you got laid!"

Seth rolled his eyes. "First, that is private. Second, why do you insist on calling me 'Cali'? And third, could you just tell me why you're calling so I could get back to my guest."

John chuckled. "Fair enough, man, on all counts. And they say Summer only comes once each year."

"Ok, man, now you're quoting James Bond movies and getting into some disturbing territory. What's up?"

"Well, I knew you had a visitor so I wanted to call before returning to the dorm, and I happen to be at Mr. Chong's so I was gonna see if you kids needed anything."

"Ah, yes. We could probably use some dinner about now," he said, glancing at his clock, which read 7:30 pm and back at Summer who was nodding enthusiastically into his chest. "We will take an order of shrimp fried rice, 3 vegetarian egg rolls, and an order of Kung Pao Shrimp," he finished, earning a smile from Summer as he had remembered she wasn't eating meat other than seafood.

"A'ight, man, sounds good. So I'll meet you at the place in about 45 minutes. And could you please be decent? I mean, Summer, she can wear as much or as little as she wants, but I don't really desire to see your naked ass or naked—"

"Bye John," Seth said shortly, clicking his phone shut and throwing it back on top of his jeans. "So, we have 45 minutes until my roommate returns."

"That's cool," Summer mumbled into against his body. "Can we stay like this for, like, 15 more minutes then?" she asked, raising her face to meet his eyes.

"Of course, my little Summer. I would just prefer if we were dressed by the time he returns. I think he's been using my collage of 'you' pictures in a not so nice way," he joked, making a mock disgusted face.

She smacked him in the chest at his remark, but eventually let out a chuckle before burrowing her way deeper into his side. "So, how've you been, Cohen? I feel like it's been forever."

"It has," he said, a bit of sadness in his voice, but quickly shook it off and racked his brain for the details of his life. "Well, I'm the Prez, which is pretty cool. And you already saw the stuff about the recycling program. Me and John just hang out around campus most weekends and go to some party or another at one of the three colleges in the area. Um, well, you know that I'm studying Graphic Art for the time being, so there's a lot of studio stuff. Oh, I made the coolest comic book for one of my projects. It's kind of a little kid's one, because I made it for Sophie, but yeah. I like it. And, uh—"

"Wow, take a breath," she said with a laugh. "But seriously, it sounds like things are really good for you here." Seth nodded and they returned to silence for a moment, both a little lost in their own thoughts. "Ya know, I've really missed you since we left each other in California," she said softly, moving to prop her elbows on his chest so she could meet his eyes. "But as much as I think we've made the wrong decision, it seems that we're both—"

"Where we need to be right now?"

"Exactly." She leaned in a placed a soft, lingering kiss on his lips. "So, have you met anyone special around campus?"

Seth looked at her like she was crazy for a moment, before answering the question. "Well, you have met my roommate, and I think it's safe to say that he's more than a little 'special,'" he paused and they shared a laugh. "But if you're asking about members of the opposite sex," he looked at her eyes which were focused downward, "there is no way I could ever meet anyone that drives me as crazy as you, Summer Roberts. I mean, I've been in love with you for ten years. No, scratch that, I've been falling in love with you for ten years. Meaning everyday that I wake up, and see those pictures," he motioned to his bulletin board, "Or read the paper and here about some crazy rally led by GEORGE, I am reminded of how amazing you are, and I fall in love again."

Summer raised her eyes to meet his at the last part of his speech and her mouth couldn't help but melt into a small smile. "You so stole that from a movie or something."

Seth shrugged his shoulders and grinned. "It's possible. But seriously, I can't believe you would be worried about me finding someone else. In the last year, I've made more than my fair share of attempts to salvage our relationship in the wake of," he paused, almost slipping up. "Well, in the wake of everything, and due to my particularly over-zealous neurosis, I can't help but always think about you and those idealistic GEORGE guys, seeing each other in all of these hot, environmental rallies. And you know, the sparks fly, and you're all, 'That guy is so hot! He loves the environment' and next thing I know I'm getting some 'Dear John' letter to tell me that you've ran off to live with Hector in some commune in South—"

He was cut off by the feeling of a small hand covering his lips. Feeling the burning of Summer's gaze on him, he shook himself out of his reeling mind and brought his eyes, nervously, to meet her gaze. "Is that what you really think?" she asked, a bit of hurt evident in her tone.

Seth couldn't bring himself to answer for a full minute, but when he realized that she was looking at him expectantly, he finally spoke. "Honestly? I get worried. But I mean, you know how I am. I'm Seth Cohen. Even if we had ended up here, in Providence, living together in the same studio apartment, I would still worry. Face it, Summer, you've always been a bit out of my league. And there's always this sneaking suspicion in the back of my mind that one day you'll wake up and realize—"

"That it was all just some mistake? Cohen, seriously, do you remember Valentine's Day? While I'm not quite as neurotic as you, I still wonder whether or not you'll wake up and realize that I'm just some 4th grade fantasy. But," she pulled herself closer to his face and raised it until their eyes were locked, "you have to believe that what we have is real. Because we've fought really long and really hard for it, and I seriously believe that if it wasn't worth it, we could have given up a long time ago," she finished placing a kiss on his lips that he gladly returned.

He snaked his arms around her waist and pulled her closer as the kiss heated up a bit. For once, when Summer said she loved him, well, in not so many words, he could believe her, and really see in her eyes that she wasn't going anywhere. When Summer finally pulled away, just as their making out was about to progress to the next stage, he looked at her confused. "I just wanted you to know that for the record, those GEORGE guys may be idealist, but they're still pretty sick. They smell all, I don't know? Un-bathed."

At this Seth just laughed and rolled over so he was on top of her. "There she is," he said, before leaning down and covering her mouth with his again. He had just started working his way down her neck and brushing kisses across her collarbone, causing Summer to moan his name in pleasure, when the door burst open.

"Jesus, man, I told you to be decent," John exclaimed, not looking away, and watching as Summer and Seth scrambled to cover themselves up. "No, no, Summer, you're ok, but Cali, put some freakin' pants on!"

Summer and Seth both rolled their eyes, and stayed in their positions, hidden by the covers. "Uh, man, can you leave so we can at least get dressed?" Seth asked. "Just like five minutes."

"Oh, is that all you need, bro?" John said, laughing but still not moving from his position in the doorway. Finally, he entered into the room and set the food down on his desk, taking a seat.

Realizing he wasn't going to go anywhere, but that his back was turned, Seth and Summer quickly found their respective clothes from the floor and dressed. When they were completely dressed, they rose to get their food from John's desk. "Ope! I better go wash my hands," John said, when he realized that they were dressed.

When he left the room, Seth rolled his eyes and turned to Summer. "Sorry about that, he really likes to fuck with me," he said, putting his arms around her waist and pulling her close.

"Oh, really? I hadn't noticed," she replied dryly, but smiling and reaching up to give him a soft kiss.

The two stood like that for several moments, until the door opened and John returned. "You two just can't keep your hands off of each other, can you?" he said, smacking Seth on the back on his way by.

The two shared a knowing glance, and Summer mouthed 'Later' before they took their seats on the boys' futon. "So, Summer, how's it going with that hippie-liberal grassroots organization?"

Summer almost choked on her food at this, and Seth couldn't even contain his laugh, but she started telling the boys all about her adventures with GEORGE over dinner.

**A/N: I know some people might think John's a dousche bag, but he's really just a kind of crazy guy. Eventually, he'll be seen as a good friend of Seth's. I hope you liked the second installment. I wrote it in about an hour, so I hope it's not that noticeably rushed. Review! Much love. 3**


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